As an original Tea Party organizer in Los Angeles, it has been a wonderful pleasure to watch the movement grow here, in Southern California and across the nation. Yet, for many of us, there was a desire to be more than one-dimensional. Rallies are important, but they are not everything. To move a message of The Four Basics, as I call them – The Constitution, Capitalism, Fiscal Responsibility and Smaller Government – takes an approach that engages all types of media.
Amongst the Pasadena Patriots, one of the finest tea party groups in America, this push to engage popular culture has led to the creation of a new TV series: “Courage, New Hampshire – the Travails of Sarah Pine.”
Created by Pasadena Patriots co-Founder Jonathan Wilson, and farmer/entrepreneur/activist James Patrick Riley, “Courage, New Hampshire” shares a look at the colonies before they decided to declare their independence from King George. The objective, according to Riley, as reported in The Hollywood Reporter (and picked up by Drudge Report):
“I’d like to concentrate on some of the regular folk who made the Revolution possible….mix the narrative tension of The Sopranos and the redemptive, heroic American exceptionalism of Frank Capra.”
In the comments on The Hollywood Reporter website, not all of the comments are negative, but more than a few go after the overtly religious elements in the series. One of the comments states:
The founding father’s would be spinning in their graves if they could see how their intentions are being usurped and undone by the religious right.
While another comment is more direct in its attack:
These folks ARE dangerous, selfish, Christian Dominionists who will do whatever is needed to brainwash the masses with their Teahadist, Plutocratic, agenda while attempting to re-write history and the American constitution.
No word on production value, on historical accuracy or on the script. Just the same hard-core progressive ramblings against Christians, Christianity and those who believe in something more than big government.
The first episode has its world premier on Sunday, June 26th. I am thrilled to be the host of the event; hopefully the first of many for Wilson and Riley (and their production company, Colony Bay) and for the Tea Party.
(Feel free to leave your comments here, and on the Hollywood Reporter website.)
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